The Roaring Winds

Chapter Eleven: Missions

Chapter Eleven: Missions

Stormpaw patiently waited outside the apprentices' den as his paws kneaded into the soft heather plants beneath him. His spiked tail flicked behind him, movements that were caused by agitation. His amber eyes gleamed in the bold sunlight that streaked across the camp.

    "What are you all excited about?" Heatherpaw teased him. The soft gray apprentice cuffed him over the ear as she exited the den. She purred lightly to herself and curled her dainty tail. Her blue eyes glimmered with amusement.

    Stormpaw felt his embarrassment dawn on him. He relaxed his haunches and sat back, in the attempts to soften his ruffled gray tabby pelt. His fur never seemed to straighten itself out. It was always either bushed up or ruffled due to the weather or his denmates. Was there any way to fix that? Or, was he forever going to be trapped in a strange state of shock, embarrassment, and potential anger? Swiftfoot had once told him some information about maturity or something along those lines, but it just didn't seem to make sense quite yet.

    "Hey, Stormpaw!" Heatherpaw's meow was louder, which drowned out his large thought process. He blinked a couple of times, in the hopes that it would clear his head. He looked over at Heatherpaw while he twitched an ear a couple of times.

    "Yeah, sorry," He scratched at his ears with a hind paw. "I was just, err, thinking."

    "That's all you seem to do all the time," Heatherpaw quietly snickered to herself. "Sometimes, you just have to stick with reality for a while."

    "I do know that! I just keep thinking about a random idea or concept, and it just forever gets wrapped up in my mind! I just keep droning on about that, and then, I lose focus on reality, and then, I forget what we were even talking about!" Stormpaw unexpectedly snapped back at her.

His ears flattened back, and he turned his gaze away from the she-cat. "I'm sorry, Heatherpaw... Sometimes, the teasing just gets to me, more than I'd like to admit. What were you saying? I promise I'll pay attention this time."

    Heatherpaw blinked softly as she processed his words. She tightly smiled at him while her eyes contained a different glisten to them. She took a moment before she gave him a small reply. "No, no. It's fine, Stormpaw. I was just asking about what got you all riled up."

    "Oh, yeah, that," Stormpaw grinned back, his mind already cast adrift once again. Part of his mind was still at the Gathering. The night was truly spectacular for him, and while, it still seemed to have its highs and lows, it was still, by far, the best night of his life. There were so many different cats there, with all kinds of different backgrounds and histories, oh, and the difference of Clan origins allowed for some new unique personalities.

Along with that, he actually got to resolve some of his connections with Petalpaw. For once, the bright, cherry-red she-cat apprentice didn't seem so hostile as she made herself out to be. She was just a WindClan apprentice, like himself. They were always going to be by each other's sides, no matter what happened. It had never occurred to him before, and now, all of his original thinking seemed so strange. He never realized the value of having Petalpaw as a friend, and he was starting to really admire her small traits.

His ears began to lightly burn. He wasn't paying attention yet again! Why couldn't he just be normal? Why couldn't he focus on one thing, and one thing only, at a time?! It was seriously getting on his nerves that this always happened to him!